The Fundamental Principles of Enlightened Succession
By Navina Nirada Dasa
“Can the world go on without me? Is anyone capable of doing what I do?
Do I have a monopoly on anything?”
With a significant generational turnover ahead of us, the issue of succession in ISKCON has become more pressing than ever. This presentation explores Srila Prabhupada’s view of succession by extracting principles and lessons from his teachings.
The success of any society depends on the quality of its leadership. Hence, succession depends on the training of good leaders. A good leader is one whose character and behavior are based on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
This work examines examples of both success—Maharaja Dhruva, Åñabhadeva, Citraketu, and Påthu—and failure—Dhåtaräñöra and Vena. In doing so, we identify nine principles of succession:
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Vision
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Open Communication
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Authenticity
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Seeking Advice
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Detachment
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Devotee Care
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Accountability
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Proper Recruiting
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Ongoing Training and Education
Finally, we give some practical suggestions on how the above principles can be implemented.
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This work was originally presented as a Bhakti Vaibhava Final Presentation.
Below you will find the original paper, and the PowerPoint presentation.
Fundamental Principles of Enlightened Succession Final Paper by Navina Nirada Das
Powerpoint Presentation — Fundamental Principles of Enlightened Succession by Navina Nirada Das